


The Ink on His Skin

by mauvesaidwill (23seok)



Series: Klance Week 2k16 [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Klance Week 2016, M/M, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, feat. the rest of the space squad™, it's kinda sorta unrequited, there's some light sheith but not
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-06
Updated: 2016-08-06
Packaged: 2018-07-29 19:09:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,673
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7695931
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/23seok/pseuds/mauvesaidwill
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Keith holds back fairly important information, and Lance can't read. (His soulmark, that is.)</p><p>Written for KlanceWeek2k16 Day 2 - Love/Hate</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Ink on His Skin

**Author's Note:**

> for day 2 of klanceweek2k16 - love/hate
> 
> i missed the first day, and technically the second one, but life's been a bit strange recently, so i'm saying "screw it" to the schedule ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯ also i went with the last name "sanchez" (i.e., lance sanchez) from dirty laundry,,idk it just fit so yah. the ending feels abrupt to me, but at the same time i like it, also sorry if lance is out of character. he may be my fave but he is sure hard to write, hope u enjoy reading anyways, and sorry for any spelling/grammar errors!!
> 
> [twitter](https://twitter.com/23seok) | [tumblr](https://aquarisa.tumblr.com)

“I thought it’d be you,” Keith says through clenched teeth. His eyes remain locked on the ground, and he doesn't look up when a hand lands on his shoulder. “I wanted it to be you.”

Shiro takes a minute to respond. “I get that it’s hard having your soulmate not be who you want, but whoever it is can’t be that bad if you don’t know them.”

“But that’s the thing,” Keith whispers, “I know him.” There's a pause wherein Keith decides to look up at Shiro. “It’s Lance.”

He's met with a stunned silence before the hand on his shoulder rubs soothingly back and forth. “Do you think he knows?”

“His mark…,” Keith looks away, out at the vastness of space through the window. “Something went wrong when it had formed. It’s hard for him to tell.”

“Can you tell?” Shiro asks.

Keith nods. “I know it. It’s not anyone else.”

Shiro doesn't respond.

“When I saw it was him, I hated him so much,” Keith lets out a breath. “He calls me his rival, but I’ve never thought of myself as that, and the only reasons I react the way I do is…,” he pauses before admitting it, “my temper and what I know. There’s that resentment.”

“You know soulmates are predestined,” Shiro says quietly.

“I do, and that’s what makes it worse. I’m working on things now though. It’s fine.”

Shiro nods and gives him a single pat on the shoulder before standing. “That was quite a talk. Do you need some time to yourself?”

Keith shrugs. “I think I’ll hit the training deck.”

After sending him a small smile, Shiro nods. “Sounds good. But don’t overexert yourself. Get some rest.”

“Alright,” Keith smiles softly back.

-

Of course the next day is when things go wrong.

It happens as Keith is removing his gloves in order to readjust them. Of course it does.

“Hey, Keith, my main man! Wait, dude, whoa…,” Lance trails off as he stares at the name tattooed on the back of Keith’s hand. “That’s—that’s… that’s my name!” He moves closer to Keith and takes his hand in his own. He runs the pad of his thumb over the name before looking at Keith with wide eyes. “Dude, what the heck? Why is my name on your hand? Is that your…?”

Keith doesn’t answer. He can’t answer. He looks away guiltily.

Lance lets out a shaky laugh. “This is… this is… _wow_. I didn’t even know if I had a soulmate after what happened with mine! I had always thought I’d be this outlier, the freak with the smeared soulmark, but you have my name! Mine!” Another, louder, laugh falls from his lips. “I had hated myself for so long because I couldn’t tell what mine said. I thought it wasn’t possible for anyone to be my soulmate, for anyone to love me, but now there’s you, and there’s my name.” He brings Keith’s hand closer to his face. “I can’t believe this!”

Keith releases an awkward laugh. “Uh, yeah….”

After another couple of seconds of staring at the name on Keith’s hand, Lance’s eyes narrow, and his brow furrows, and he turns to Keith with something akin to betrayal on his features. “You have my name on your hand, and you knew, and you didn’t tell me.”

Keith blinks. “I… yeah. I didn’t.”

“Why not?” Lance now looks confused and hurt. Keith doesn’t like it.

He pulls his hand away and slides his gloves back on. “You hated me. Hate me. With your claims that we’re rivals, I thought it’d be better to not tell you.”

“But I told you about my mark,” Lance’s voice is quiet. “You knew that there was a chance I’d never know my soulmate, yet there you are with my name on your hand, and you act like it’s nothing!” His tone had changed from sadness to anger, and it was evident by the end of his sentence. He stands straight and moves away from Keith. “Man, I can’t believe my soulmate is a huge jerk. I’ll talk to you later, Keith. I need some time to think.”

-

“I messed up,” Keith tells Shiro later that day.

Shiro listens carefully as Keith explains what happened between him and Lance in the training room, and when Keith stops, he moves to sit next to Keith. “You did mess up.”

Keith nods.

“And Lance bases his relationships on his trust,” Shiro continues, “which you’ve broken. But due to circumstance and due to all that you two and the rest of us have gone through together, I’m sure he’d be willing to try again.”

Keith looks at him out of the corner of his eye. “He’d do that if it were one of you guys, but it’s me who made a mistake. He won’t be as willing to listen.”

“You’re his soulmate,” Shiro says. “I think that could end up being enough of a reason for him to listen to you.”

“But he thinks we’re rivals,” Keith tries to say, but Shiro holds up a hand.

“Your mindset of him thinking of you as only his rival is what caused this problem in the first place,” Shiro reminds him. “Maybe try talking to him as Keith, his fellow Paladin, and not Keith, his supposed rival?”

As Keith mulls the idea over in his head, he nods. “I’ll try. Do you think this’ll affect our ability to form Voltron if things go wrong?”

Shiro pauses and taps his fingers to his knee before shaking his head. “Lance can seem the most lax on our team, but I’m sure he’ll be willing to connect to you to form Voltron. He’s not an idiot.” He looks at Keith. “I think you forget that sometimes.”

“No,” Keith frowns, “I know he’s not, but he can be so insufferable.”

“You both are when you fight,” Shiro chuckles. “Just talk to him. Things’ll work out.” He stands and moves to leave Keith alone, but Keith stops him.

“Shiro,” he says, causing the other to turn and look at him, “has there ever been someone who’s rejected their soulmate?”

It takes Shiro a minute to respond. “I’m sure there has, but Lance isn’t like that. It’ll be okay. I’m sure he’ll be hurt, I would be too,” he stops when Keith’s gaze hardened. “Sorry. But I’m sure he’ll get over it in time. You did break his trust, Keith, but I’m sure he’ll understand if you manage to get both of you to sit and talk.”

Keith nods and watches as Shiro leaves.

-

“Lance,” Keith says when he sees him sitting alone in the control room. Lance looks up at him, sighs, and stands to leave. “Lance, wait.” He keeps walking. “Lance, if you don’t stop right now, I’ll—”

“You’ll what, Keith?” Lance interrupts. “I don’t think you could do anything worse to me than you’ve already done.” He glares at him. “Just leave me alone, alright? If you want to train, go find Shiro or something. Even Pidge!” He glares at him for another second before scowling and heading the other way.

“Scowling doesn’t suit you!” Keith calls after him.

When Keith finds him a couple hours later, this time as he’s walking out of his room, Keith grips his wrists and doesn’t let go, even as he tries to pull away. “No,” Keith says, “I’m sick of this. Just listen to me!”

“Maybe I would if you weren’t such a stupid jerk!” Lance yells back.

“You didn’t even give me time to explain!” Keith could feel the anger bubbling in his stomach.

“We wouldn’t be having this argument if you just manned up and told me the truth!” Lance glares at him and attempts to move away again.

“I thought you hated me,” Keith says, quiet.

Lance tenses. “I don’t know….” There’s a pause. “I don’t think I’ve ever hated you,” he says, voice just as soft.

Keith freezes before looking at him. “But you were so adamant on the whole ‘rivals’ thing.”

“I was jealous.” Keith watches as a blush rises on Lance’s face. “I still kind of am.” Lance looks at him straight on. “Do you even know what you look like when you fly? It’s like it comes naturally to you. You’re just so attuned with your ship, and you can be a bit crazy at times, but you just seem so cool—you’re not, by the way,” he adds, somewhat ruining the moment.

Keith’s expression falls flat. “I think I’ve got that.”

Lance nods. “Good.”

“So will you let me explain now?” Keith asks.

Lance stares at him before shrugging. “Don’t think this means I forgive you.”

“I won’t,” Keith says.

The door to Lance’s room slides back open.

When they’re inside, Lance flops on his bed and turns to look at Keith, who’s still standing awkwardly in the middle of the small room. “Alright. Explain.”

“I thought you hated me,” Keith begins. “I know we’ve cleared that up, but you just made such a big deal out of your dislike, and I thought I might as well go along. And at first, I really didn’t like you. I knew you were my soulmate, but before that, I thought it might’ve been Shiro. I was hoping for it to be Shiro. When it wasn’t, and I found out it was Lance, the kid who seemed to have a personal vendetta against me, the one who was more a bother than anything else, I wasn’t all too pleased. And when it turned out we were the Paladins of Voltron, and I’d have to see you all the time, you with your stupid rivalry nonsense, that made everything worse. I was mad. And also, I didn’t find out about your situation until later. Until only a couple of weeks ago. So I thought you were just ignoring the fact that I was your soulmate, and that made things worse.”

He looks to Lance, but the other is staring at the ceiling over his bed.

Keith swallows before continuing. “I thought you hated me so much that you didn’t even want to acknowledge that I was your soulmate, so I decided I’d do the same. That was going fine until you told me about your mark, and how it’s smudged. And I guess I could’ve told you back then. I want to say that would’ve been a good time to tell you, but I should’ve just told you as soon as I learnt who my soulmate was.” He frowns. “I know you’re mad, and you have every right to be mad, but will you ever be able to forgive me? I _am_ sorry, but I’m not good at dealing with these things.” He stares at the ground. “Must suck having me as your soulmate, huh?”

He stiffens when he feels arms wrap around him. “You’re an idiot, and you’re not very good at sensing what others feel, but you’re my soulmate, and you’re also a pretty okay person.”

Keith snorts. “Thanks.”

Lance pushes him away slightly to look at him. “No, dude, I mean it. For as sucky as you can be, you do have some redeeming qualities.”

“You too?” Keith replies hesitantly.

Lance stares at him before nodding. He suddenly takes on a serious expression. “I haven’t really forgiven you by the way. I’m willing to put things aside for the sake of our team, and don’t look surprised,” he says emphatically, “I know when to do so. I’m not stupid or an idiot or whatever you might think of me.”

“I know,” Keith replies, making Lance freeze. “I know you’re not an idiot.”

Lance blinks and stares at him with wide eyes before smiling. “That’s good. You’re already on your way to being forgiven!”

Keith awkwardly smiles back. “Thanks?”

Lance nods. “Forgiveness increased by twelve percent.”

-

“I see you and Lance are back on speaking terms,” Shiro tells Keith as he walks into the training room a couple days later.

Keith ducks before striking the Gladiator in the side. “Yeah.”

“End training sequence,” Shiro instructs. The Gladiator freezes before collapsing. It disappears into the floor.

“I was training,” Keith looks at Shiro.

Shiro smiles. “I could tell, but we’re having a Castle of Lions residents meeting.”

“What?” Keith gives him a blank look.

Shiro turns back to the door. “Family meeting.”

-

“Okay,” Lance says from where he stands on the table. “I have gathered you here today to—”

“Someone’s getting married,” Hunk jokes.

Lance sends him a dry look. “No. I’ve gathered you here today to tell you that Keith is three quarters of the way to being forgiven.”

Pidge casts Keith a confused look. “What did Keith do that made you so angry, anyways? You really weren’t acting yourself.”

“Great question, Pidge,” Lance says, clasping his hands together in front of him and tucking them under his chin. “Great question,” he repeats. “Keith, here, you see, has, or had, broken my trust by withholding some information.”

“Lance, are you really going to do this here?” Keith asks.

Lance glares at him. “Yes, so if you would kindly shut your _quiznak_.”

Coran blanches from where he’s stood by the door.

Keith crosses his arms. “Have you taken into consideration about how I feel about this?”

“You didn’t take how I felt into consideration!” Lance retorts. “I totally get to do this.”

Keith sinks in his seat but otherwise remains silent.

“Good,” Lance says, nodding decisively. “‘Now, what is this information Keith’s been keeping from Lance?’ you ask?" He tosses his jacket to Hunk, who catches it with only slight annoyance on his face, and lifts up the hem of his shirt while pulling down the waist of his jeans the tiniest bit, revealing the smudged soulmark on his left hip. “As you can see, this is pretty illegible.” He drops his shirt to point at Keith. “Now, Mr. Brooding over there has never been seen without his gloves. True or false?”

“True,” is the general muttering throughout the room.

“False,” Lance replies. “Yes. I, Lance Sanchez, have seen Keith without his beloved gloves. And do you know what is under one of those gloves?”

“No, Lance,” Keith says, heat rising to his face, arms tightening around himself.

“Yes, Lance,” Lance responds. “Keith, remove the gloves!”

Keith glares at him, but after a minute of tense silence, he begrudgingly removes the accessories. At Lance’s intense stare, Keith sticks out the marked hand. “Happy now?”

Hunk leans over to stare at the hand before looking at Keith. “That’s Lance’s name.”

“And the winner of Find Lance’s Soulmate is Hunk Kealoha!” Lance shouts, jumping off the table and taking Keith’s hand in his. He suddenly loses the bravado he worked up. “Keith is my soulmate.”

“Are you okay, man?” Hunk asks, poking at Lance who’s looking kind of dizzy. Lance nods, but he’s staring at Keith’s hand, just rubbing his thumb over the mark. Hunk looks at Keith, but Keith just shrugs. Hunk shrugs back before placing a hand on his best friend’s back. “Congratulations, then.” The rest of the humans in the room echo the sentiment, but Allura and Coran walk over, confused, to look at Keith’s hand.

“I don’t understand,” Allura says. “Why do you have each other’s names on your skin?”

Lance looks at Allura. “Do you guys not have soulmates?”

Allura doesn't respond, still looking confused. Coran answers instead. “We didn't quite have _soulmates_ , but when we were young children, infants, really, we’d be given a vision by the eldest in the family, more a glimpse really, about who we might end up with. That’s like your soulmates, right?”

Lance blinks at him before nodding. He looks back at Keith’s hand. “Yeah. It is.”

“Well, I’m glad there will be love instead of hate between you two,” Allura says, smiling at them.

Pidge snorts. “Who’s to say there’s not rival soulmates?”

Lance looks at Keith, a humorous light dancing in his eyes. “Imagine that.”

Keith rolls his eyes and shoves him. “Yeah. Imagine that.”

**Author's Note:**

> [twitter](https://twitter.com/23seok) | [tumblr](https://aquarisa.tumblr.com)


End file.
